First off I would like to start with a hearty HELP! I am making a vanity top out of solid cherry and decided to try Waterlox original as it claims waterproof after a few coats which is important. It seemed to be a little less plastic than straight polyacrylic which I like and was easy to apply. I am trying to get a high gloss finish but would settle for satin if not possible.

There were no problems at all in the four coats I applied to the top, sanding with 320 lightly in between the coats. On the last coat I sanded with 400 grit, 600 grit and 1000 grit (wet sanding with water on the 600 and 1000 grit). All of the sanding was done with a Makita 1/4 sheet sander and I didn’t really force down the sander in places or anything, just went along like usual. It was interesting as the water beaded up real nice on the finish which made me very pleased. The problem I had which I didn’t realize at first was that there are a few places on the edges that lightened up a lot as if I had sanded away all of the finish. Attached are the pictures I took of it in two places. Please confirm that I did blow through the finish or not, if it is another problem you noticed and if possible give me some pointers as to how to prevent this in the future or fix it.

Thank you all in advance and have a wonderful day!

P.S I plan on buffing this out using rottenstone after I go one grit higher and after I remedy the problem.

-- Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. -Ephesians 6:10-11

5 replies so far

Yes, it looks like you sanded through the finish. It is something you’ll learn to deal with in finishing. With a power sander you have to be careful near the edges. A lot of times I will hand sand “lightly” near the edges.

I also will typically power sand after the first coat and hand sand after that.

Yes, it is unbelievably easy to over-sand edges, but once you are aware of it it gets easier to avoid. The same problem applies to hand planing. Try putting a little more pressure on the heel of your hand or sanding machine as you lift very slightly on the front end as you approach the edge (kind of like a plane taking off).

Oh man been there done that! Love watterlox and use it all the time. I rub out using mineral spirits and hand blocks only. Lite touch, and super careful at the edges. I use wet/dry automotive paper and go to 2k.

I’ve done what you have done. You can try to fix it and blend, but sorry to say this, the only way to truly fix it sot take it off the top and redo. I know it sucks but it’s the only way to truly fix IMO. I should not take that long and it will blend in to the other finish on the edges well.

You can try to make it work, and god bless if you can make it happen. I tried, and ended up just doing it the right way and taking it off back down to bare wood and brought it up right and was super careful from then on on edges.

If you time it the time to fix it right and fiddling and blending and it not looking perfect will just piss you off in the end.

Thank you for the reply and the advice. I am going to just sand it all off as there is no “burn” in of the layers like lacquer or shellac. Seeing as how easy the stuff on the edges came off It shouldn’t be more than a half an hour or so. I will post as to how it came out.

P.S That wine cabinet and waterfall bubinga top is amazing!

-- Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. -Ephesians 6:10-11